Jackson warns feds about Occupy

The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Friday blasted District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray for requesting that Occupy D.C. protesters be removed from an encampment in downtown Washington and he warned federal authorities that evicting the demonstrators will only strengthen the movement.

“They should hear why they are protesting, frankly, rather than react to the occupation,” the civil rights leader told POLITICO. “They should know that to remove the protesters, they will be expanding the tentacles of the movement.”

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Referring to McPherson Square – one of the two public spaces in Washington dominated by Occupy protesters – as only a physical space, Jackson warned the National Park Service, which has authority over the area, that the agency will be unsuccessful in “driving away the quest for equality and justice.”

“People will Occupy until something happens, until the gap in wealth is occupied and the walls are bridged,” he said.

Jackson’s comments come one day after D.C.’s mayor asked the National Park Service to remove Occupy protesters from McPherson Square, citing a “dangerous rat infestation” and other problems threatening the health of the demonstrators.

In a Jan. 12, letter to National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis, posted online by The Washington Post, Gray expressed serious concerns about the health and safety of the demonstrators, especially of those staying at McPherson Square.

“The most serious of these concerns include dangerous rat infestation as well as the serious potential for communicable disease, hypothermia, and food borne illness,” wrote Gray, citing inspections conducted by the city’s Department of Health.

Noting that both Occupy D.C. campsites — McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza — fall under federal jurisdiction, Gray requested that immediate steps be taken to put the demonstrators out of harm’s way, suggesting that at the very least, the two sites be consolidated at Freedom Plaza.

National Park Service spokesman Bill Line told POLITICO Friday that the agency has received Gray’s letter and that it is in the process of reviewing the situation, but did not elaborate further.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on Thursday called Gray’s description of the Occupy encampments in D.C. “a blunt assessment of the situation created by the National Park Service’s decision to ignore laws designed to protect the public,” accusing the agency of being more interested in “making excuses than protecting the public.”

In a letter to Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar Tuesday, Issa repeated an earlier request that the department provide the committee a slew of information about the D.C. Occupiers, including details of the National Park Service’s views on whether protesters in McPherson Square are violating the law and when, if ever, the agency will force protesters to leave the encampment.

Gray’s spokeswoman Doxie McCoy told POLITICO this week that McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza “were not rat-free prior to Occupy D.C.,” but that “there is evidence of increased rat presence in both locations” since the protesters took over the sites.

McCoy also emphasized that D.C. officials do not have the right to “actively remove” property of the protesters or officially inspect and shut down the demonstrations, citing federal jurisdiction over the two camps.

Occupy protesters are planning to demonstrate on the National Mall on Jan. 17 in a movement that they are calling “Occupy Congress.” Organizers say they are hoping for “one of the largest gatherings that the Occupy movement has seen,” predicting thousands will gather in the nation’s capital Tuesday.

According to an application for a permit to demonstrate filed in December, demonstrators plan to gather at 7 a.m. and protest well into the night. U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider confirmed to POLITICO last week that Occupiers had filed an application, but said she could not publicly announce the status of the application.